2018-19Regular SeasonRound 1
Zalgiris Kaunas 79
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 87
October 12, 2018 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 ZALGIRIO ARENA

Baskonia wins road opener in Kaunas

KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz started the season in style by downing Zalgiris Kaunas 79-87 in front of more than 15,000 fans at Zalgirio Arena on Friday. Jayson Granger paced the winners with 15 points on 5-of-7 three-point shots. Shavon Shields added 14, Toko Shengelia had 12 while Marcelinho Huertas and Matt Janning each got 11 for Baskonia. Nate Wolters had 19 points for Zalgiris while Arturas Milaknis added 12. Back-to-back floaters by Wolters gave Zalgiris a 10-9 lead. Granger and Matt Janning each struck from downtown for a 10-15 Baskonia edge but Wolters and Laurynas Birutis helped Zalgiris restore a 24-22 lead after 10 minutes. Huertas and Darrun Hilliard took over early in the second quarter and a tip-in by Ilimane Diop made it a four-point game, 30-34. Three-pointers by Granger and Hilliard kept Baskonia in charge, 39-42, at halftime. Janning and Shields kept pacing Baskonia, keeping the guests ahead, 46-51, midway through the third quarter. Huertas stepped up with five quick points and an alleyoop dunk by Vincent Poirier made it a double-digit game, 49-59. The guests kept a 53-63 margin after 30 minutes, extended it to 59-76 behind an unstoppable Granger and cruised to a well-deserved road win.

Pivotal performer

As always, Shengelia did a little bit of everything to help his team win. He had 12 points, hit a couple of shots from downtown, drew six fouls and pulled down six defensive boards, helping Baskonia outrebound Zalgiris by 18-27. Once again, Shengelia showed leadership in a tough basketball environment.

Game-changing moment

Granger controlled the game tempo and hit every critical shot his team needed to win the game. He hit back-to-back outstanding three-point shots in the fourth quarter – one when double-teamed in the right corner, another from way downtown – that sealed the outcome many minutes before the final buzzer.

Stellar stat

In a game in which both teams shot well inside the arc – Zalgiris 64.1%, Baskonia 64.5% – three-pointers made the difference. Zalgiris hit just 4-of-11 shots from downtown (36.4%) while Baskonia buried 12-of-28 (42.9%), with six different players scoring at least once from beyond the arc.

Did you notice?

A minute of silence was kept to honor Grigorij Khizhnyak, the best per-minute shot blocker in EuroLeague history, who passed away earlier this month.

Next game

Zalgiris plays its first road game of the season against Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Wednesday. Later on that day, Baskonia hosts Olympiacos Piraeus at Fernando Buesa Arena, home of the 2019 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four.

Jayson Granger - KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz - EB18
Friday, October 12, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; KOROMILAS, ELIAS; NEDOVIC, MILAN
Attendance: 15107
By Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas24151426
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz22202124
End of Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas24395379
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz22426387
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 24:52 6 3/8     1 3 4 3 1 1   1 1 2 8
3 WOLTERS, NATE 27:22 19 8/11 0/1 3/4 1 2 3 5 2 1   1   5 27
7 WALKUP, THOMAS 10:07                   1     1   -2
8 SABECKIS, DONATAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 WESTERMANN, LEO 12:38 6 2/3 0/1 2/3   2 2 4   2     2 3 8
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 12:40 6 2/4   2/3           2     4 3  
17 BIRUTIS, LAURYNAS 10:43 7 3/3   1/3   1 1     1       2 7
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 26:24 12   2/4 6/6   1 1 1 1 1     3 3 12
30 WHITE, AARON 31:07 7 3/5 0/2 1/2 1 2 3 2   2   1 3 2 3
40 GRIGONIS, MARIUS 21:16 7 1/2 1/1 2/2   3 3 1         3 4 11
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 22:51 9 3/3 1/2   1   1 1   1     3 2 8
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 79 25/39 4/11 17/23 5 16 21 17 4 12 0 3 20 26 85
        64.1% 36.4% 73.9%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 VILDOZA, LUCA 2:32               1   1     1   -1
5 GONZALEZ, MIGUEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 12:14 2   0/3 2/2 1 3 4     1     1 1 2
9 HUERTAS, MARCELINHO 14:00 11 3/4 1/1 2/2         1 1     2 2 10
11 JANNING, MATT 25:28 11 3/5 1/6 2/2   2 2 1         2 1 6
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 21:49 5 2/4   1/2 3 5 8 4   1 1   4 3 13
15 GRANGER, JAYSON 23:51 15   5/7     1 1 4 1 1     1 4 21
17 POIRIER, VINCENT 17:53 8 4/5     3 1 4 4 2 2 1   3   13
23 SHENGELIA, TORNIKE 27:54 12 1/3 2/4 4/6   6 6   1 1 1   1 6 18
29 GARINO, PATRICIO 10:03 2 1/2 0/1         1 2       5   -2
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 25:07 14 4/6 2/3   1   1 1 1 1     3 2 12
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 19:09 7 2/2 1/3     1 1 2 1 1     3 1 6
Team           4 1 5     2         3
Totals 200:00 87 20/31 12/28 11/14 12 20 32 18 9 12 3 0 26 20 101
        64.5% 42.9% 78.6%
Head coach: MARTINEZ, PEDRO

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"Congratulations to Baskonia. I think that Baskonia's team was clearly more ready for the season than we were. We did a lot of positive things today but in the key moments of the game, Baskonia hit a lot of very, very important shots."
MARTINEZ, PEDRO
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz

"I think we did a good job. We had great concentration, and I am very happy with the way we passed the ball on offense. We had good balance between playing long and playing fast. We rebounded great on defense and our only problem was the last five minutes, when we had some turnovers and some bad defenses. But I think that, in general, we had a good game with a lot of players helping the team not only scoring, but rebounding and defense. We respect Zalgiris, and not just one or two players. We were not worried about one or two players, but for all of them, and I think we played good team defense."

"I think it was a very tough game with both teams playing very hard on defense, pressing the ball, pressing full-court. It was very difficult for both teams to start to play on offense, but I think we respected our game plan, especially passing the ball and playing with more passes than dribbles. Another important thing for us is that we dominated the defensive rebounds. That allowed us not to give second options to Zalgiris and especially allowed us to run the fastbreak. These are, for me, the two keys. For us, the only important thing is to try to do a good job in the next practice and the next game. We are not worried about the Final Four. We know it is going to be difficult, and after one game thinking about the Final Four is absolutely absurd, totally crazy. We don't think much about this."

Players

GRANGER, JAYSON
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
"I think we did a great job from the beginning. We knew how difficult this court is and they have a great group of guys, offensively and defensively, but I think we did a great job defensively, we controlled the tempo of the game. We are trying to do our best, definitely. We knew and learned from last year that in the beginning of the season we have to get some road wins. And I think we had a good chance starting here, in this kind of environment, in this kind of gym. We did a great job so we are happy for the victory. We have to go game by game. We want to be on the top but have to be humble and keep working every day."